English teachers often ask for a list of the elements of nonfiction
analogous to the elements of fiction they are accustomed to teaching.
I fear they will be disappointed.
Some nonfiction products
All of the following types of expository writing — and
dozens of others — fall under the category of nonfiction:
-
Advertising copy
-
Web pages
-
Autobiography
-
Travel books
-
Business memos
-
Broadcast news copy
What do they have in common?
Not much.
A list of elements of nonfiction that covers all those kinds
of expository writing would
look a lot like the description on the nature sign in the photo:
empty.
Learn more about what nonfiction
is and its essential nature.
I would hate to have any of my site visitors make silly errors
like talking about "a nonfiction novel."
Nonfiction organizational patterns
By examining a broad sample of nonfiction, we can discover a
few organizational patterns used repeatedly. These will be of
little use in discussing nonfiction elements, but they are very
useful in teaching nonfiction (or expository) writing skill.
Most common: thesis + support
The most common organizational pattern in nonfiction has a variety
of names, such as:
There are probably others I’ve overlooked.
What distinguishes this type of expository writing is that its
body is arranged in a pattern of a thesis statement followed
by supporting evidence. The thesis
statement is the main point the author wants to impress on
the reader. The supporting evidence could be anything from personal
anecdotes to pie charts.
Is thesis + support an element of nonfiction the way a plot is
an element of fiction?
Before you answer, look at the second common organizational format
for nonfiction expository prose.
Next most common: inverted pyramid
The inverted pyramid arranges
information by the breadth of the ideas: broad, general ideas
first, followed by increasingly narrower, more specific ideas.
I hesitate to call either of the persuasive pattern or the inverted
pyramid pattern nonfiction elements.
In discussing fiction, you'd expect all the elements (plot, setting,
characters, etc.) to be present together. You'd hardly expect
a nonfiction paper to be organized two different ways simultaneously,
would you?
Other organization schemes: strings
In your examination of nonfiction, you may come across some other
organizational patterns I call strings. Common string patterns
are:
Alphabetical and numerical order are found almost exclusively
in the nonfiction (expository) domain. Chronological and spatial
organization may be found in fiction as well as in nonfiction.
All things considered, it seems to me that the list of elements
of nonfiction consists of one item: non-fiction.
Published 11-June-2009; updated
15-Jun-2010
